They meet every morning: Raymond W. Kelly, New York City's Police Commissioner; David Cohen, the Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence; and Michael Sheehan, the Deputy Commissioner for Counter Terrorism. At these sessions, held at One Police Plaza, in a room known as the executive command center, Kelly is briefed on overnight developments related to terrorism. One morning, I was allowed to sit in.
“Suicide bombing in Pakistan,” Cohen said. “Details.” He slid a sheet of paper to Kelly. “I put Hercules out on three Shiite mosques for the day.”
Hercules is a set of police antiterror teams. The team members carry heavy weapons, and they turn up without warning at sites all over the city, for reasons never shared with the public.
